Police Commissioner Richard Ross making smooth transition

Police Commissioner Richard Ross could have been forgiven for missing the dinner.

He had been glad-handing and meeting-and-greeting for weeks; new officials seeking to become fast friends, old friends seeking new favors from the just-appointed top cop.

The meal also fell just days after Officer Jesse Hartnett was ambushed and shot in West Philadelphia by a self-professed ISIS devotee. And unlike many events that lay on the horizon for Ross, the dinner had few political consequences if he failed to show up. The handful of Mount Airy seniors would eat either way.

Still, as the roast beef and greens were served, Ross strolled in and pulled up a chair.

"Maybe to most other people it would be a surprise," said Greg Wicks, 64, who has known Ross for years and invited him to the informal January gathering. "But to me, that's how he's always been."

That would be music to Ross' ears.

After years of being dubbed the commissioner-in-waiting, Ross, 51, in an interview at Police Headquarters last week, said the biggest revelation during a busy two months atop the department has been that the experience has felt so natural.

Through Hartnett's shooting, a bar brawl that allegedly involved off-duty officers and former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, and the usual drumbeat of crime, little has popped up that has surprised him.

As top deputy to former Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, Ross said, he was trusted to handle many of the same responsibilities he's dealing with now. And because he's spent his entire career in the department - nearly 27 years - he knows many of the people he is now charged with leading.

"I served under a great guy for eight years as No. 2. That's a long time as No. 2," Ross said. "As a result, the transition is probably a lot smoother - I didn't say easier, but smoother - than it would have otherwise been."

Still, it's probably too early to call the transition complete.

Just last week, Mayor Kenney released a report that included several public-safety strategies the administration wants to deploy, such as expanding the use of body cameras.

Ross also will have to work out how he wants to shape the department; in the interview, he largely expressed a desire to continue many of the policies and crime-fighting strategies that began under Ramsey, including recommendations from the U.S. Justice Department on the use of deadly force by police.

Outside observers say that, so far, they've been impressed by Ross, but know that his time in the big chair is just beginning.

"Most folks are happy with Commissioner Ross' appointment and seem very willing to work with him and see how things go," said Kelvyn Anderson, executive director of the Police Advisory Commission.

The Rev. Mark Tyler, pastor of Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, appreciated meeting this month with Ross, Kenney, and Black Lives Matter activists, but also noted that one man is unlikely to solve every problem that will confront the department.

"Issues are not going to go away just because you have a commissioner that happens to be a nice guy," Tyler said.

Whatever happens, Ross says, he's up for the challenge.

Self-assured and polished, the Central High graduate - who has a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and a master's from St. Joseph's University - joined the department in 1989 and started by working patrol. Eventually he was moved into higher-profile gigs, including working in the Homicide Unit and Internal Affairs.

For the last decade, he served as a deputy commissioner, and in 2008 he became Ramsey's right-hand man.

Ross still views Ramsey as a friend and mentor. Ramsey allowed Ross to assume many of his responsibilities over the years, he said. And when it wasn't clear when Ramsey would leave Philadelphia, the two would privately discuss where else Ross might be able to earn a top job.

"It showed me a lot about . . . having the confidence in yourself to show people around you that they can do things - and you can inspire them - without feeling like they're infringing upon their commissionership," Ross said.

Ramsey was famously unafraid to joust with the police union, but Ross is a product of the system. He and FOP president John McNesby graduated from the Police Academy together, Ross said.

Still, Ross insists that won't deter him from negotiating with the union to accomplish objectives he wants to achieve - including finalizing the federal recommendations over deadly force policies, some of which the union has opposed.

"We're going to push forward on all of them," Ross said. "And I think the FOP, with the exception of one or two [policies], is going to be more cooperative than maybe people believe."

Ross hopes his relationships throughout the city can help him with many of the issues certain to come up during his term, from union negotiations to improving police-community relations.

He understands there are many challenges ahead.

And that's why even small things - such as dinner with a few seniors in Mount Airy - can still wind up on the calendar of the highest-ranking officer in Philadelphia.

"The biggest concern," he said, "is that people think you're going to be different because you've got one more star. I don't believe in that."

cpalmer@phillynews.com

215-854-2817@cs_palmer